American ultralight YouTuber Fish Anything has used a cold off-season afternoon to lay out the rod-and-reel arsenal he is taking into 2026, walking viewers through six builds, the role each one plays and which has now overtaken his long-time Dobyns Sierra at the top of his rack.
"I'm going to go through I think six ultralight setups, and I'm going to talk about what I like, don't like," he tells viewers as he opens the video, sitting in the garage and flicking between rods.
Top of the pile is the Temple Fork Outfitters Pastime, a 6'6 one-piece ultralight rated for two-to-six pound line and lures from 1/32 up to 3/16 of an ounce. He praises both the USA build and the breadth of what it can throw. "I really can do anything. I love throwing drop shots on it. I love throwing the jigs on it. You can definitely throw treble hooked baits like rooster tails, little jerk baits." The promotion to number one only came after his Dobyns Sierra broke for a second time and was never replaced. "Every time I emailed Dobyns, they never replied to me," he says. "This has become my number one favorite, and I'm not looking back."
At 7'6, the Phoenix Elixir takes second place and pulls a different shift - mainly long casts, vertical work and offshore drop-shotting. The reel on top is the shallow-spool Shimano Vanford 2000, which he calls borderline addictive: "This reel is insane. It's so good. I wish I had one in a size 1000 because I probably wouldn't use any other reel ever." The line is 5-pound Phoenix Iron Feather braid to a 4-pound copolymer leader - a deliberate step up from 3-pound. "When you start to go that light, it makes it a little bit more difficult to manage. So, the 5 lb is a good number for me, and I can cast it a million miles."
The third combo is the Daiwa Tatula XT 642 paired with a Daiwa Tatula LT 1000, which he calls a serious value play. "It's very, very sensitive for a $100 price point. I love this setup," he says, with the reel "sleek. The black-on-black looks so good." He runs Sunline Siglon PE X4 3-pound braid that initially gave him trouble out of the spool but has settled in. "As I've fished with it more, it seems like it's kind of broken in a little bit. It feels like it's actually gotten better."
Fourth in the line-up is the budget pick: the KastKing Kestrel 552 FL2, a two-piece 5'5 rod he tags at around $90. He pairs it with a KastKing Kestrel 1000 reel and is honest that he would still prefer a Daiwa or Shimano on top. "Honestly, a pretty good reel... but the rod itself is really good for a relatively lower price."
Fifth, and perhaps the most beloved combo in the bag, is the Daiwa Gekka 5'5 ajing rod - a Japanese-domestic-market panfish stick rated to 5 grams and 1-3 pound test. He runs a Shimano Soare BB 500 reel and 1.7-pound ester. "This is not an ultralight. This is a super ultralight, which basically means lighter line, lighter lures, more fun," he says. "Sometimes I would consider it my favorite."
The sixth setup is fresh out of the wrapper: a Cashin' Core 6'6 USA-made ultralight, picked up at $150 as a possible budget alternative to the Pastime. He has not cast it yet and is publicly hedging. "It does not feel the same at all. The blank just looks a little bit thicker. It doesn't necessarily look like an ultralight," he says. "It might be an amazing rod, so we're still going to test it... I have a feeling it's going to be a little bit more of a crappie stick for my liking."
Beyond the gear, the bigger commitment is to spend more time on the water. "Multi-species ultralight fishing is what I'm looking forward to most," he says. "I'm probably going to take off a lot of Fridays from work. We're calling them fishing Fridays."